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Technology and Politics
Technology and Politics
By Sharon Housley
Americans have always had a say in their
government, at least in theory. Since the Treaty of
Paris was signed in 1783, the United States of America
has been the "land of opportunity," where
even a lowly log-splitter, exercising sufficient brains
and dedication, can raise himself to the highest executive
office. The U.S. Constitution safeguards the right to
vote for every citizen over eighteen years of age, with
few exceptions, ensuring a government of the people,
by the people and for the people. Nevertheless, only
about half of eligible voters historically vote for
their president. Those who do make it to the polls are
more educated than unschooled, more white than black,
more men than women, more wealthy than poor, and more
old than young.
This may all be about to change.
American politics has seen a few revolutions
since The revolution that gave our nation its
independence. To date, George Washington remains the
only president to be voted into office unanimously,
and since his time the politician is obliged to win
the hearts and minds of the people. Thus, getting out
one's message has been the quintessential challenge
of the presidential candidate. Initially, office-seekers
relied on stump speeches and the press. Abraham Lincoln
won over his supporters through a series of live debates.
When radio came on the scene in the 1920s, contenders
extended their reach into the very homes of Americans.
Votership surged. The advent of television in the late
1940s transformed politics once again, directing the
focus of the nation to good looks on camera and message
control-getting the perfect sound bite.
In September 1998 two California-based
entrepreneurs, Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, became frustrated
with the political mess they saw going on in D.C. Feeling
very "American," they decided to do something
about it and launched an online petition. Within a few
days they had gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures.
What they found people needed was a sense of empowerment-a
way to have their voices heard. Blades and Boyd moved
on to form the MoveOn.org Political Action Committee,
an online organization which now boasts over 3.3 million
members. Almost accidentally, Blades and Boyd caught
the attention of the media-as well as campaign organizers,
who sent out bulk emails and created flashy fundraising
websites faster than you can say donation. But
until 2003 internet-use was still a passive venture-another
mailing list, a new type of commercial.
Then in November of 2003 social networking
was born on the worldwide web. MySpace was followed
by Facebook and Flickr in February of 2004, and YouTube
joined the family in 2005. Suddenly it was possible
to open a dialogue with the country without even
picking up the phone. Unlike many tools used by politicians,
social networking is cheap and simple enough for the
typical American teenager to operate. Perhaps best of
all is the outreach. For the first time would-be candidates
have tapped into a fresh demographic of voters, elusive
up to this point-the technology-savvy youth. Before
now, politics was the game of Poli Sci grads and NPR
junkies. On the internet, power is in the hands of real
Americans: the housewife in her living room, the student
in his dorm. Rather than creating the perfect ten second
sound bite, candidates must let go and have a real conversation.
Interactive. Up close and personal. Maybe as candidates
are forced back to earth and voters gain a stake in
the process, America will become the voice of the unschooled
as well as the educated, the poor as well as the rich,
men and women of all ages and every race. After all,
isn't that what democracy is supposed to be?
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds
and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for
RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would
be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
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